Naturally, the first impulse is to cite sales of the iPad, which were still doing well last I checked. Tablets may not be a viable business for BlackBerry, but they’ve already proven to be a particularly great one for Apple. This reality makes Heins’ comments seem almost inconceivably myopic coming from the head of a major technology company.

Of course, the real question here is what Heins’ views on tablets mean for BlackBerry’s own tablet ambitions. The PlayBook was, by most metrics, a failure, which largely explains why BlackBerry never put much weight behind a successor. As a result, it’s safe to assume we won’t see another PlayBook anytime soon — if ever.

The alternative view here is that Heins is, on some level, correct. Considering how fast technology moves, it’s not inconceivable that we could soon move onto something more advanced than tablets. But will that transition happen in the next five years? Probably not.